Rack attachment for pocket-billiard tables



Oct. 7, 1930. T. E. DUNN RACK ATTACHMENT FOR POCKET BILLIARD TABLES Filed June 20, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l ,0/1 /7 4 INVENTOR 77100105 5.000

ATTORNEY Oct- 7, 1930.- T. E. DUNN 1,777,720

RACK ATTACHMENT FOR POCKET BILLIARD TABLES Filed June 20, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 77mm): Eflonn BY AITORNEY 5 outlet. l 1

Patented Oct. 7, 19 30 r a Application filed "June 20, 1929; SrialNo. 372,322.1 v This invention relates to a rack attach- Fig. 8flis a sectional view of the sameon ment for a pocket billiard or pool table havthe line 8-8, of Fig. 7 e ing'cliutes or gutters for'conveying the balls Fig. 9 is a view, mainly in section, of anfrom all the pockets to a commondischarge other modification in which the innergen'ds of l a l T "the racks havesliding extensions, but show- 65 wSuch' tables are now commonly provided ing a corner portion of the front wallofthe with a receptacle wherein the :discha'rged casing; V y y e i l A e a l balls are collected and from which they are Fig; 10 ispa sectional view of. a further, removed by the players to their individual modification in which the inner ends of the, p10 racks; l r racks areof hinged construction; 0

The principal object oftheinventionis Fig. 11 isa frontview of the attachment e to provide a chute equipped table with atof the formshownl'in Fig. 10,,with the outer tachedracks for selectively receiving all of I endsoftheracks brokeuofi; and 3 I the balls pocketed byeachplayer in turn. Fig; 12isa detailyiew of one of the slots ;'15-f Another. object is to providean'attachment' of Fig.1,11 showinga springcatchholding 6 comprising'a plurality of individual racks ,thehinged extensionof thejrackin one of each separately movable into alinem'entkwlth its positions. 1 the ball dischaizging outlet. 7 Referring now to the drawings,- 1 indi.

, A further ob ect 1s to provide. a deviceof .catesga pocketbill'iard or-pool table of the i, i c; this character which is so arranged that only type having chutes or glitters )(not shown) 7 manipulate, and noiselessin operation. tion particularly relates coinprises an open one rack at a time can be placed in ball refor conveying the loa'llsiroinall the pockets 3 V ceiving positlon. l a d 2 to ajcommo'n dischargeoutletfi at one end ;A still further ob ect isto provldea dea of the table. i 1

vice which is of simple construction, easyto The rackl attachrnent, towhichithisinven- Other objects and advantages of my i'n-l ended box-like casing l carrying a plurality vention will appear from the following deof sliding ball storage racks 5. Each rack is scription thereof. It is to be understood independently movableinto and-out of ball that I do not limit myself to the details here-, "receiving-1 position.- In] the present instance -3o in set forth and illustrated, asmodifications ,four such racks are shown,-arranged in op 3 billiard table showing my selective rack at Where w x more P arefplaying (in to the line 7-7 of Fig. 6; a

thereofrmay be made within? the scope of posed p airsat two levels, but fewer or more" the claim. i a. f ,l j v a l racks may be provided ifsodesired. Each In the accompanying drawingsz I e i e e gq e s g d tQ-fi 1 7 Figure 1 is'a perspective. view of -a' pocketl e 0f aIlTlnfllvlclllal p y i y f team 5 tachmnt applied theretoctw a, partnership, to receive and collectall of the? Figure 2 isan enlargedsectional'view of g may be pocketed by sald Player 22 22 f t gg on a The casingt is suitably attached to theball Fig. 3 isja sectional View thereof on the line 3-3 ofFig; 2;

Fig. lis a further sectional viewon the line H of Fig. 3;

opening G-through its innerwall which opening communicates with the discharge outlet 3 of the table. Thesetopenings may be cou- V a 1 pled togetherwith aflexibletube'i. There 7 1' 1S a e n l Vlew of vrm l tfi isalso an opening 8 in thei'bottom of them O 'm 0f ball a hmg mb casing, inlvertical line with the jopeningt, "F g- 6 is a sectlonal 1 a m d ified through which thedischargedballsmay drop a i ndl ofthetablaancliit has an to form of my rackattachment. i freely when all ofthe racksare moved out of 1 i 'i Fig. 7 is a sectional View of the latterl on ballreceilving position. The-interior surfaces a ofthe' casing,adjacent said openings ere preferably lined with felt strips 9 to deaden noise. A basket 10 hanging on a hook 11 beneath the opening 8 catches the balls that are permitted to drop therethrough when for any 5 reason the individual racks are not used. The basket, furthermore, may be used in lieu of rack where there are more than four participants in the game.

The racks 5 are all supported at their inner ends in the casing l on guideways 12 and at their outer ends on slides 13 fastened to the table legs. 'Eachrack is somewhat concave in cross section, as seenin Fig.2, and has a stop 14, provided Witha felt .pad insert 15, at its outer end. The racks are supported at a slight-downwardangle-to facilitate rolling of the balls froni the casing towards the stops. The-inner ends of the-racks preferably have felt coverings 16.

' 'Each rack hasa stem 17 fixed thereto, "which-stem extends through a slot 18 in the front wall of the casing and carries a knob 19 on its free-end. The knob serves as a liandle-ior s'lidingthe rack into'ball receiv ing position withits inner end portionposi- 'tioned under the opening '6. The several knobs may be numbered 1, 2, 8 and 4, respectively, for identilicationpurposes, and are eachpreferably marked with an arrow, as shown in Fig. 3, to indicate the direction of movement require d toslide the rack into operative position.

The racks-are so arranged that when any one is in'ball'receiving position, as for ex- .ample the lowe'r left hand rack in Fig.3, its extreme inner end-20 abuts against theinner -e1id'21 of the'a'djaeent rack. Now when the latter rack is moved into operative position it will simultaneously shove the former out of position, so that onlyone rack at a-time .Willbepositioned toreceive the balls as they "are discharged from the table.

' 'The lowertwo racks 5 areeach provided with a suitable device forcatching the balls lyrolling them onto the rack. The provision -0fthis device preventsanylikelihood of the balls clicking as it gets each 'ball out of the waybefore=the succeeding ball drops. Such devices are unnecessary on theupper two racks as theseracks arelocated 'directly'beneath the discharge opening and the balls will of their own momentum immediately roll *out of the way. The ball catching device may be formed ofbent' wire rod 22, shaped as showninFigs. 3 and i, orit may consist of a'hollow curved sleeve 23 as seen in 'Fig- 5.

While I prefer; to embody the principle of lny invention in-a construction substantially such as hereinabove described, I amaware that it maybe embodied in somewhat difi'er- .ent constructions,and-I shall now according- 'ly',procee d-to describe briefly several modifications, without, however, limiting myself thereto.-

of a conventional spring catch 28, shown as they drop through the opening 6 and quick In the form illustrated in Figs. (3, 7 and 8, the racks 5 are all supported at their outer ends on fixed pivot pins 24. In this case the racks are arranged to be swung angularly about their pivots into and out of ball receiving position, as is indicated by the dotted lines in Figs. 6 and 8. The casing l is somewhat wider than in the preceding instance, .to allow for the swinging movement of the racks, and is provided with interior walls 25 to direct the balls from the opening 6 onto the racks.

With the form of attachment shown in vFig. 91the racks 5 themselves are stationary but are provided at their inner ends with sliding or telescopicextensions 26 which constitute a part of the racks and are adapted .tobe moved in or out of ball receiving position.

The modification represented in Figs. 10

.and 11 alsohas stationary racks 5 which in this case are provided with hinged inner end extensions 27. The fixed stems 13' of the handles 19, whereby these extensions may be raised or lowered into or out of ball receiving position, pass through arcuate slots 18 in the frontwall of the casing; lileans areprovided to hold the extensions in raised position. These means may take the form lll detail in Fig. 12. The catch engages anC holds thestein 17 when the handle of the rack-extension is moved into raised position but permits of release of the stem upon movement of thehandle in the oppositedirection.

It Will be noted that the several forms of the invention hereinabove described all embody the same principle in that in each instance the racks themselves, or a. complementarypart thereof, are movable selectively into position to receive the balls as they are discharged from the table.

ball receiving position beneath said outlet.

,2. In combination with a pocket billiard table having chutes for conveyin g balls from .all'the pockets to a common discharge outlet, a rack-supporting member secured to the table, and a plurality o1" racks supported thereon with their inner ends arranged to be brought selectively into ball receiving position beneath said outlet.

3.. In combination with a pocket billiard table having chutes for conveying balls from all the pockets to a common discharge outlet, arack-supporting member secured the table, and a plurality of racks slidably supported thereon and movable selectively into the table, a plurality of racks supported thereon for movement selectively into ball receiving position beneath said outlet, and'handleson the racks for so moving said racks. 5. In combination with a pocket billiard table having chutes for conveying balls from all the pockets to a common discharge out let, a rack-supporting member secured to the table, a plurality of racks supported thereon in opposed pairs at diflerent levels, said racks being movable selectively into ball receiving f position beneath the ontlet, and handles on the racks for somoving said rack-s.

6. A rack attachment for apocket billiard table of the ball conveying chute type,coIn- I prising a casing formed with a ball receiving opening, and a plurality of racks having their inner ends disposed within the casing and arranged to be brought selectively into alinement with the ball receiving opening. 7 A rack attachment for a pocket billiard table of-the ball conveying chute type, comprising a casing formed with a ball receiving opening, and a plurality of racks having their inner endsslidably supported'within the casing and movable selectively into alinement with the ball receiving opening.

8. A rack attachment for a pocket billiard table of the ball conveying chute type, comprising a casing formed with a ball receiving opening through its inner wall and slots in its outer wall, a plurality of racks having their inner ends disposed within the casing and movable selectively into alinement with the ball receivingopening, andhandles for moving the racks extending outwardly from the racks through the slots in the front wall 20f the easing.

9. A rack attachment for a pocket billiard table of the ball conveying chute type, cornprisinga casing having a ball receiving opening inone wall and ball discharging open ing inits bottom, and a plurality of racks casing and movable selectively into ball receiving position, a free passage from the re- I ceiving to the discharging openings being aflordedwhen all of the racks are moved out of ball receiving position.

10. A rack attachment ,for a pocket bil- 11. A rack attachment for a pocketb-illiard table of the ballconveying chute type, comprising a casing having a ball receiving opening, a plurality of racks having their 1111161 ends disposed within the casing. and

movable selectively into alinement with the ball receiving opening, said racks being arranged in pairs at two levels, and ball catchmg elements on the inner ends of the lower 7 pair. n

THOMAS E. DUNNQ 'having their inner ends disposed withinthe liard table of the ball conveying chute type,

, comprising a casing having a ball receiving r opening, and a plurality of racks having 7 their inner ends slidably supported within the casing and movable selectively into aline- V ment with the ball receiving opening, said racks beingarranged'in pairs at diiierent levels with the inner ends oflthe racks ofeach pair in opposition.

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